CT Only: Scout Base short definition in Supp03
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Spinward Flow
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To be fair, the only meaningful difference is ... does the system reside on the Express Network or not.
Scout bases that are NOT on the Express Network are exploratory installations.
Scout bases that ARE on the Express Network are there for XBoat operations support.
And that's just their "primary" functions, they can also serve other purposes (admin, detached duty, survey report gathering, etc.).
Scout bases that are NOT on the Express Network are exploratory installations.
Scout bases that ARE on the Express Network are there for XBoat operations support.
And that's just their "primary" functions, they can also serve other purposes (admin, detached duty, survey report gathering, etc.).
Because (IIRC) at the time the "Way Station" was defined as a Military/Government Outpost, and not yet specifically associated with the IISS.
Also, the lines on the Spinward Marches map may have been trade routes, primarily. (Don't have Sup3 in front of me at the moment).
So these are the bases that support the XBoat Tenders (as well as the XBoats). If a Boat shows up in system, and needs maintenance, it'll be pulled out of service and maintained at the base. This suggests several XBoat tenders per system, as well as spare XBoats at the Scout Base. It also implies that at least the XBoat part of the Scout Base is in orbit, since I don't think the tenders are streamlined.
Perhaps the Scouts have a XBoat ferry that can pull an XBoat out of orbit for ground service. Dunno if that's worth the time.
Spinward Flow
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That would be an easy assumption to make. They're logistics support for Express Network operations.
This is why the network needs to have more XBoats in stock than are actually assigned to running routes. Some of them are going to be pulled for downtime and more extensive maintenance support. My thinking is that if a particular run needs (for the sake of argument and illustration purposes) 14 XBoats jumping that circuit (1 per day, round trip 2 weeks) then there would need to be 15 XBoats assigned to that specific route so as to allow for a 1 XBoat "reserve" to be pulled from the rotation for annual overhaul maintenance at a Scout Base whenever it be needed.
My assumption has always been 1 Tender per other system on the Express Network within 4 parsecs plus 1 additional Tender in reserve for maintenance rotations. That way you can always keep Tenders on station and rotate relief using the reserve Tender.
Boughene/Regina/Spinward Marches has 5 other star systems within Jump-4 of Boughene ... so Boughene ought to have 6 Tenders assigned to support Express Network operations there ... 5 on station plus 1 in reserve.
Correct.
Tenders are Close Structure configuration: 4.
XBoats are Spherical configuration: 5.
Both of these hull form factors are partially streamlined.
Scout Bases would undoubtedly have orbital highport shipyard facilities "somewhere" in the star system and will usually be somewhere other than the mainworld (usually a different planetary orbit) so as to be "out of the way" from all of the major trading traffic (and potential piracy, presumably) that may happen within a particular star system.
Type-S Scout/Couriers are capable of operating as 1G maneuver tugs with 100 tons of external loading.
If a Tender is being rotated off station, any XBoats that also need to be rotated out will simply be berthed internally in the Tender for transport back to base.
If a Tender is not being rotated off station, a Type-S Scout/Courier will be assigned to maneuver tug the XBoat to/from the scout base orbital facilities.
Once you factor in external loading, Type-S Scout/Couriers make for pretty decent runabouts for both maneuver tug and also refueling duties for Tenders (so the Tenders don't need to be pulled off station to refuel) in addition to simple passenger/crew shuttling between Tenders and bases plus a lot of other little "odd jobs" that need doing.
I will jump in and note, that one spare is too few. I would think 2 or 3 at each X-boat stop and another one for each route in the shops getting worked on, maybe 2. That way when a ship comes in with a fault in the widget that will take 1d3 days to fix there are no problems with mail delivery.
Spinward Flow
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I just use the +1 spare per destination to keep things simple.
So let's use Boughene/Regina again as the example case.
- Boughene --> Efate
- Boughene -> Pixie
- Boughene --> Feri
- Boughene ----> Roup
- Boughene ---> Kinorb
Now let's say that each Tender on station has 4+1 XBoats (4 active, 1 reserve) assigned to it for tasking to dispatch to a single destination star system per Tender. So the Tender at station 1 dispatches to Efate ... the Tender at station 2 dispatches to Pixie ... and so on. Such an arrangement would enable the XBoats that use Boughene as "home port" to be dispatched on a round trip (2 weeks) cadence of 1 XBoat every 3-4 days. However, a reciprocal arrangement is also taking place at Pixie, where XBoats that use Pixie as "home port" are doing the same thing from their end being dispatched to Boughene. So between the two systems (Pixie and Boughene) they've effectively got 10 XBoats to run that round trip circuit with 8 in operation jumping dispatches and 2 in reserve (1 at Boughene, 1 at Pixie) and able to sustain an operational tempo cadence of dispatching an XBoat every ~2 days on average.
Do the same again for the other 4 Tenders assigned to the other 4 destination systems and you start to get an idea for the magnitude of the operation the IISS needs to maintain. It's a LOT of starships jumping round trip circuits.
Spinward Flow
SOC-14 5K
I'm sure that Scout Bases would have "extra spares" and that Way Stations would have "hundreds extra" in reserve to feed into the network as needed. But in terms of "tip of the spear" kinds of requirements, what I outlined is better thought of as being the floor, rather than the ceiling, in terms of quantities.
For example, I would expect Subsector Capitals to have at least double the number of XBoats assigned to their Tenders for more rapid cycle tempos with all star systems within 4 parsecs on the network around those capitals.
That floor capacity then gives you some basic assumptions to start with and you can then work your way up from there.
For example, I would expect Subsector Capitals to have at least double the number of XBoats assigned to their Tenders for more rapid cycle tempos with all star systems within 4 parsecs on the network around those capitals.
That floor capacity then gives you some basic assumptions to start with and you can then work your way up from there.
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